Dave is a mild-mannered man of data who enjoys nothing more than staring out his windows in the evenings, drawing what he sees and listening to The Bangles' "Eternal Flame" on repeat long into the night, falling asleep at his desk and waiting until morning. Of course, this is done more as a way of self-preservation than anything else. Without the drawings, without his job (where no one really knows what anyone does and graphs are fairly meaningless) Paul... er... Dave is left with nothing to do but think about There. See, There is not like Here. Here is safe, welcoming, tidy. Dave and all the other residents of Here prize organized living more than anything else. It would be a shame if something were to ruin that.
I decided to purchase this subtly genius graphic novel in hardback for my husband, a bearded gent, himself. I thought it would make for a lovely Valentine's Day gift because we like to mix it up. As it is with most graphic novels, it's a quick read - straight and to the point, but it lends itself to an enjoyable theme: individuality... and facial hair.
Stephen Collins (both the author and illustrator of this lovely little tome) is fairly new to the publishing scene but not to the world of comics, having received several awards for his observational humor and illustrations in the past. He keeps a very active Tumblr and Twitter full of fresh art and comics worth checking out.
The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil has been well-received by the press. It was the winner of the 9th Art Award for 2013, and it was the winner of the Gran Guinigi Award in 2014 for Best Graphic Novel. However, I had never heard of it until one late night browsing around on GoodReads. I'm happy to have it on our shelf. This and Stephen Collins' other work can be purchased directly from his website at Stephen Collins Illustration.
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